Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Years ago...Feb. 2006 (I think) I joined a KAL (Knit ALong) to knit this cable sweater. I bought the yarn. I knit the swatch. I had Anita The Fiber Artist measure me at an odd Tuesday knit night. I started the sweater.

And then I would let it hibernate. Every year I'd knit a bit more, but it did more hibernating.

Well It is finished. Except for blocking.

It is a cranberry color no matter what the picture looks like, it is a dark red. I'll see if I can get someone to take a better picture of me in it at Odd Tuesday tonight.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Okay, the people across the way have set out dozens of different lights and a big blow up merry-go-round. They play Alvin and the Chipmonks constantly on a speaker. The lights flash, the merry-go-round moves and those high pitched voices go on all night. (they don't even have small children to which this might be appealing!)

In stark contrast and perhaps in retaliation the neighbor 2 doors down from the above monstrosity of high pitched songs and blinking lights has set up his Christmas display. It has been a few years since he has had a bike small enough to actually bring inside for this display.

This is what it looks like in daylight.This is the picture I took this evening. Of course I couldn't hold that still for the exposure...is it still an exposure on a digital camera? (click to make big to see the cool light squiggles) Anyway, after an afternoon of shopping with Jordan we arrived home to the chipmonk's flashing lights and it was actually soothing to see the silent Santa Baby on his "crotch rocket".

Vikiwondering if she should suggest some Trans Siberian Light Orchestra music to the neighbors.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Well not really a howl, but I can hear it as it whips through the bare trees and around the corners of the house. Glad we got rid of the casement windows a few years ago. Mostly I know the wind is high when I hear the bells and chimes outside my bedroom window and the back door ring constantly. The bells are ringing. AND yep that was just a small limb hitting the roof.

So far the very large water maple in the neighbors yard is holding together. I told her if it started to break up we were popping corn and watching. It could of course just as easily smash our house as theirs.

Really, I think I'll go Christmas shopping, at least I wont be in the house if the tree falls.

It is actually Sunny out while this wind storm is going on. The picture above looks washed out because of it.

I tried to find something to photograph that would really show the wind blowing, but my camera isn't that great and the trash cans blowing around the yard are not very pretty.

Monday, December 07, 2009

Saturday, December 05, 2009

I took this shot at Grinny Possum Fiber Arts yesterday. I have been trying to stop by at least once a week to sit and knit with Ann, the owner. The shop is right across the river from Louisville and I am only a few minutes away from the Brown School. So picking up Mariah is easy.

Plus, I've knit a pair of socks in just a few weeks of sitting in the shop!

It has been a busy week and I am very behind on projects that I want to complete. I have my album started for December Daily, but haven't posted any pictures yet. I finally put together my art journal for December yesterday and painted 6 pages. Page 1 - 3 on flickr now.

Weds. marked our 26th anniversary. Dave was on call and worked late and I wasn't feeling well. So we'll celebrate this weekend.

At this moment Mariah is taking the SAT. Send good wishes her way. Yes she is kind of young to be taking it, but she is trying to get into Gatton for her last two years of high school. This is the second time she has taken the SAT. She is taking the ACT next weekend.

Jordan came for dinner last night. Potato soup. We played around with her cell phone camera and a Jelly Lens...the 6 image mirage lens. Too much fun! Unfortunately shipping cost as much as the lens.

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

It frosted heavy enough that I will have to scrape my windshield this morning...where are those mittens?

In other news today is ODD Tuesday which means Knitting and fiber fun at the local Barnes and Noble cafe. I look forward to these Tuesdays.

I have finished objects to show and tell and one that I picked back up. I've been knitting on the FLAK cable sweater off and on since 2006. I think it is time I finished it. One more inch or so of ribbing and then I'll pick up stitches for the neck...

Saturday, November 21, 2009

I'm posting this page because it looks so interesting from a distance. Is there a name for an Autumn Green man?Alpaca cowl. I loved knitting this quick project. The alpaca yarn feels so nice in my hands! Hope my sister in law likes it. My friend Sally tried to get me to give it to her yesterday when we met for coffee.This little pillbox hat was an experiment using leftovers from other projects. I got the pattern from Pamela Grossman'ssite. It is the pattern called keppie. It was modeled after a Bukharan style kippah or a Turkish pillbox cap. The top is in gray woolease and the sides are noro silk and woolease in a slip stitch pattern so it looks woven. I like the inside better than the outside, the colors show up better. Pamela didn't use the slip stitch pattern in her pattern, that was me experimenting.

I blocked the hat on a needle felting foam hat form and it fits me and actually looks okay. I have a problem wearing hats. The hat I made a few years ago is from the same noro silk and is very loose and doesn't give me "hat head".

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

It is that time of year: October! Oh I love October. The chill in the air, the apples, the squash, the smashed pumpkins all over the neighborhood. I'm trying to put a bit of the season into each Prompt a Day journal page. A bit of Halloween themed paper in the background or a stamp or sticker...this one is obvious.

The colder weather has me wanting Fall foods. In the last week I've made Soup and a Potato & Kale dish made with curry spices. I bought a winter squash at the grocery and the Apples at Paul's Market are Wonderful. Honeycrisp is my favorite this year.

The cooler weather has me actually picking up the knitting needles. I have been seriously neglecting those. I vow to pick up that sweater that has been on the needles for years! Of course socks are always on the needles and I just had to start something new that is mindless for those evenings the TV is on all evening. It is called Baktus and if you click on that link you can see a picture of one colorway and the pattern too. I found this on Ravelry. I've spent quite a bit of time on Ravelry looking at pictures of things other people have knit.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Once I start I have trouble stopping. I even have another one in the works.

The cover of the yellow one (6 x 9 inches) is actually a very old Manila envelope. I bought a whole stack at an estate sale last Winter. I like incorporating envelopes in books because you can store things in the envelope.

The blue and white one is 6 inches x 9 inches and mostly watercolor paper inside.

The 2 green and white flower books are 6 x 6 inches and are filled with a combination of reclaimed papers from old books and security envelopes. You can see part of a security envelope on the one standing open.

The 2 smaller white ones are approximately 4.5 x 6.5 inches give or take a few cm. Hopefully one of them will become quite colorful very soon. I'm taking an online class with Kelly Kilmer during July. Which was the impetus for the book making spree.

Three of the books are simple single signatures and 3 are stab bound.

On another note, Mariah and I went to World Market today to pick up a few bottles of Italian syrup for mixing Italian soda's. I have figured out that making our own costs about $1. compared to the coffee shop version at almost $4.

While I see how this art form could be meditative, I like the hands on art, the way they look, the history behind rock stacking is interesting too. This article talks about how rock stacks are also called inuksuk and they are a tool used by nomadic people to help others find their way. "There aren't many natural landmarks on the tundra, but apparently there are lots of rocks."

One of the groups I belong to has been extremely slow. Real life sometimes gets in the way of creating. So some of us are trying to make 1 card a week for a personal art deck. Meaning we are keeping the cards we make instead of swapping. The cards I'm making are 4" x 6". Hopefully this will get some of us over the dry period and back into mixed media.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

We don't eat a lot of meat anymore. We do eat some, but not often, Maybe once or twice a month we will eat some beef. Chicken about once a week and Fish once a week. The rest of the time we eat a vegetable based diet. That is pretty good, but we are trying to eat even less chicken and beef. (Mariah hasn't eaten beef in over 2 years)

I have bookmarked a blog that I visit fairly regularly called Vegan Dad. He has a cookbook coming out. (As a side note, I find it amazing that so many people who blog have ended up with book deals of one sort or another.)

Back to Vegan Dad. He had a recipe on his blog that sounded so good and I had All the ingredients just sitting here so I made Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesedillas for dinner the other night. I didn't follow his recipe exactly, of course, but used what I had and what we like and they were outstanding!

I used 2 smallish sweet potatoes chopped and cooked in water, then drained and mashed.1 can black beans drained1/2 a large onion2 cloves of garlic1 cup of leftover corn1/2 a jar of Frog Ranch salsacumina few handfuls of spinach leaves cut up or torn up.chili powderhot pepper slices

cooked the onions til clear and browning, added the corn and garlic then the beans and mashed potato and salsa and spices and spinach. I spread a few tablespoons of the mixture on whole wheat tortillas and browned them in the iron skillet.They taste great with guac and sour cream too.

Monday, April 27, 2009

This is the chair I sat and read in most of the weekend.A terrible picture of the pretty little tree.Okay I don't have a patch.

I have one little paw paw tree, or is that Papaw?

I'd have to look it up.

I am trying to find another little tree. You need two for fruit. I got this one from an older gentleman who lives in the neighborhood. He is related to paw paw/papaw growers in Ohio. Evidently they provide the fruits to restaurants around the country. I haven't seen this gentleman for a few years. My mother is trying to contact him for me to see if he has any of the trees to sell this year.

Why am I even going on about paw paw/papaw trees? Mine Bloomed this year! For the first time.

Last week I had an allergic reaction to some guys aftershave while I was in the bookstore for Odd Tuesday. Yes, I have "issues". Evidently that reaction opened me up to infection...

I Lost my voice by Weds. evening. Thursday I called into work and then crawled back into bed and even had Jordan pick Mariah up from school. I just couldn't stay awake and I had no voice. Try answering a phone in a whisper.

Friday, I had an appointment to have labs drawn at the doctor and they kindly fit me in to see the Nurse who filled me up with meds. because the virus was leading to a sinus infection. It is now Monday. I finally have a little bit of a voice. However, I am not talking when I don't absolutely need too. This Laryngitis thing is really a hassle. Five days of no voice. I am ready to talk again.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Which just so happens to be very close to one of my favorite fiber shops: The Mannings.

What a pleasant place.

This time I even spun on a few wheels and fell in love with the Ladybug Wheel. Don't know if it is in my future or not, but I really enjoyed spinning on it. Easy to treadle and enough ratio's to make me happy. The price is pretty too.

I of course participated in stash enhancement. The cotton yarn came from a high profile hobby shop.(I have been requested to knit some dishcloths) The square sock needles and the flat feet came from Uncommon Threads in York.

The spinning fiber, and the Noro sock yarn and Trekking sock yarn came from The Mannings.

Not shown is Mariah's new wooden needles and silk merino lace weight yarn and pattern for the shawl she has decided to knit. That all came from The Mannings too.

On another note, I took my Kindle on the trip. Not only could I read books I had downloaded, but if I knew an exact web page address I could read online. I spent hours in the car and in the house reading online! Without dial up costs or WiFi. I am so glad they have that experimental section on Kindle. Their Whisper Net works Even in the Mountains of Maryland. It was great.

My Kindle is version 1. The Newest Kindle came out a few months ago. Check out the web site.

The interesting thing is that the handbook doesn't tell you everything you can do with your Kindle. I downloaded a $4. book onto the Kindle that tells how to download books from free sites and how to use the Experimental section of the menu.

If you want to see all the relatives check out my flickr account for an amazing amount of pictures. Gosh those kids have all grown! Everyone missed seeing Jordan. The visits with relatives were much too short.

Some knitting was accomplished. Part of a sock on the way up and cotton dishcloths on the way back to KY.

Viki

wants to go to The Woolery, which has relocated to Frankfort KY only 45 minutes away!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

These pictures aren't great, but at least they don't show the rest of the yard! It's a mess.

Spring is here though, buds and leaves are starting to pop out and the trees are having sex all over the place, so allergies are getting worse too.

The time change about killed me this year. I wake in the dark to the birds singing that it should be daylight already! I felt as if I could sleep the day away the whole first week! It was awful, but I'm getting used to it now.

Jordan got her hair done last Friday and came by to show me and she looked so happy I just had to take a picture.

Mariah got all dressed up the night before to go to a LYPC (Louisville Youth Philanthropic Council) awards dinner. A teacher at school invited her thinking it might help her get more involved. It is a service organization that would teacher her how to write for grants to help charitable organizations in town.

We ended the weekend by going to Cirque du Soleil at Freedom Hall( Thanks again Chris!). It was so much fun! I would have loved to do this when I was younger. In fact I did try to run away to France to do mime. My parents wouldn't let me. After the show, Mom turned to me and asked me if I missed not doing something like that with my life and I surprised her by saying yes.

Monday, March 02, 2009

It was a balmy 18 degrees this morning, no snow, but it is cold and crispy outside.

One of my favorite things about cold weather is the need for warm socks.

I knit lots of socks.

And

I wear them.

That is what they are for after all.

This pair is made out of Opal yarn. I haven't washed them so they are not very soft, but they should be hard wearing. Hard wearing means a lot. I used to only wear my hand knit socks with clogs so the heel's wouldn't wear through. Not any more. I wear hand knit socks with my athletic shoes too.

The so called design element in this pair of socks is that for the leg area, if I came to a color I purled it, gray = straight stitch color = purl. Easy. For the foot area I of course just knit straight.

Since I am wearing my hand knit socks in more than just clogs I am checking them more frequently for holes.

If I DO get a hole in a hand knit sock, then I repair it. I always check my socks to see if they are getting a bit thin or holey so I can salvadge them before they get too bad.

I was checking out a pair of hand spun hand knit socks just last week and I discovered a hole.

Good news is that when I make socks out of my hand spun yarn I tend to make them a little big so they will felt a bit in washing. This pair is thick. It looks as if I could just wear them forever and that little stitch that popped wouldn't go anywhere, but I'm looking for the left over bit of yarn to darn these so they will last longer.